Fine Arts

Archive for April, 2017

We went out to Estero Llano to see the Mexican Bluewing and got caught in thunder, lightning and RAIN ! It was very exhilarating. There we encountered the Mexican Bluewing butterfly.

Mexican Bluewing Butterfly with Wings Closed

What wonderful camouflage.

Mexican Bluewing Butterfly with Wings Open

And then it spreads its wings and SPLENDOR.

The day before Easter, while writing about these ephemeral creatures, the largest non-nuclear bomb in the history of man has been dropped on Afghanistan. It is hard to imagine that these tiny concerns over what a butterfly might like to eat exist on the same planet as the massive destruction of habitat seen on Ameican TV. Mind-wrenching!

A sweaty-humid day and we seek the shelter of some towering oak trees. Whew! It’s hot. Then I hear a cracking sound and am instantly alert … is a branch of the tree going to fall on my head? Moving hastily away and looking up, I can see no branch appearing to tilt or fall. The cracking sound continues as I look around. A man walks by and smiles at us as he remarks “Don’t worry … it is only a Guatemalan Cracker butterfly.”

The cracking sound diminishes and he walks over to the trunk of the tree and points upward. Squinting at the spot I see nothing. He waves me over and says “It is so well camouflaged that it takes a while to see it.”

Guatemalan Cracker Butterfly

Lifting my binoculars I scan the spot and there it is! Above my head, resting on the bark, is a butterfly the size of an apple. “He is a rare one this far North in Texas. He belongs in Central America,” the man says and bids us goodbye.

Once home I look up this strange gray butterfly and find that the cracking sound is from clapping his wings together to warn other male Crackers that this tree is HIS or to attract any female in the vicinity to his tree. Will wonders never cease … Crack away you marvelous butterfly trying to insure that your species will go on into the future. We wish you success.